Chapter 16: Human Life

Perhaps realizing that his words had been too heavy, Kuang Hongyi chuckled again and gave himself an out, "Chu, it's just a hunch of mine, anyway, just stay alert."

After that, the two chatted about this and that, growing more familiar by the minute. You called me Kuang, and I called you Chu; they hit it off as if they were one and the same.

Feeling a bit sleepy, and after peering through the cracks in the door and window once more to check the outside, confirming everything was fine, Kuang Hongyi went over to wake up Xu Su, while Yang Xiao went to rouse Su Tingting—it was time for a shift change.

Lying in the bed that had previously belonged to Su Tingting, Yang Xiao could still occasionally catch a whiff of herbal medicine. Kuang Hongyi's attitude towards him had done a 180-degree turn, not because Kuang Hongyi was kind-hearted, but because he saw him as useful.

Kuang Hongyi claimed he was a police officer, but Yang Xiao did not believe it; the man exuded a hostility about him.

Moreover, by taking the opportunity to shake hands, Yang Xiao noticed that the man's palms were callused at the edges, with tough skin at the base of the thumb and a strong grip in his fingers, as if he was accustomed to handling guns—a demand not typical of an ordinary police officer, he seemed more like a mercenary.

As for Shi Dali, whom Kuang Hongyi mentioned, Yang Xiao had already taken notice of this man. With forbidding features and a reserved silence, he wasn't particularly tall, roughly around 170cm, but he was well built, with crafty eyes and habitually hunched posture. He moved with his shoulders dropped and elbows weighed down, very stable in his lower body posture, surely carried martial skills, and they were not low-level ones at all.

If he ever had a conflict with such a person, Yang Xiao had thought that a frontal confrontation would have no chances of success; he would have to strike first.

That Xu Su was not simple either; a girl barely in her 20s, she was calm and collected in all situations. This was not the demeanor of an ordinary engineering teacher.

Then there was Ke Long; Yang Xiao recalled his habits and characteristics once again. Hmm... he found nothing particularly noteworthy, but since Ke Long had survived from the previous instance, he must possess some exceptional qualities.

However, at this stage, everyone was a teammate, and if possible, one should definitely lend a hand. Kuang Hongyi was competent and cautious, and as a veteran player, working with him could greatly compensate for Yang Xiao's lack of experience as a script newbie—it was a good deal.

In the upcoming tasks, he had to show his worth appropriately, ensuring that everyone recognized his value. Only by doing so could he ensure his safety to the greatest extent; even in danger, his teammates would opt to rescue him after weighing the pros and cons.

"Sigh~" Yang Xiao sighed, looking up at the carved patterns on the wooden bed ceiling and feeling a wave of sorrow. Having written scripts for so long, all of a different and otherworldly nature, he had never imagined he would one day be trapped inside a script. If he did slip up, he couldn't imagine how his fellow scripters would ridicule him.

Lost in thought, Yang Xiao's consciousness slowly blurred. At last, his head tilted, and he actually fell asleep.

Early the next morning, Yang Xiao was woken up by Su Tingting. As he opened his eyes, he felt utterly confused. He had meant to stay awake all night, and here he was, a paranormal writer with such a low level of vigilance?

How embarrassing...

At this moment, the door was already open, warm sunlight streaming in. Only Su Tingting and he were left in the room; the other bed was empty. Yang Xiao was taken aback for a moment, and quickly turned to Su Tingting, "Where are they?"

"A servant came by earlier and asked for one person from each room to go fetch meal boxes. Kuang was worried it wouldn't be safe for Ms. Xu Su to go alone, so he accompanied her. He told me to stay and wait for you to wake up."

"How long have they been gone?"

"It's been a while, so I woke you up," Su Tingting said, twiddling her fingers nervously.

"How long is a while?"

"Half an hour... at least half an hour,"

Yang Xiao realized something was amiss. Fetching a food box shouldn't take so long; something must have happened.

He hurried Su Tingting to another room, pushed open the door, and saw only Shi Guanming pacing back and forth anxiously. After a brief exchange, it turned out that both Shi Dali and Ke Long had been called away for the same reason.

They couldn't wait any longer. The three returned along the path they'd taken the day before and stumbled upon an argument at the corner of a corridor. They could faintly hear someone crying.

Following the sounds, they came upon a spacious courtyard where Kuang Hongyi, Shi Dali, and several others were encircled by a group of people dressed as servants, seemingly engaged in a dispute.

Approaching closer, Yang Xiao glimpsed, through gaps in the crowd, a corpse covered with a white cloth on the ground, with only a pair of cloth-shoed feet sticking out, the body drenched throughout.

"What happened?" Yang Xiao forced his way into the crowd.

"Damn it, someone's dead, what's that got to do with us?" Ke Long's voice was loud, his expression unfriendly, "We didn't kill the person!"

The man leading the opposition was a burly fellow with a scar at the corner of his eye, "What kind of talk is that? What did you come here for! You took the silver but didn't get the job done, and now you're making excuses?"

After listening for a while, Yang Xiao roughly understood what had happened. Early that morning, a servant from the mansion went to fetch water from a tank in the backyard, only to recoil in horror upon lifting the lid - a human face had surfaced; someone had drowned in the tank.

Yang Xiao stepped forward and slowly lifted the white cloth, revealing a servant in his attire, young, with eyes wide open in death. The more Yang Xiao looked, the more familiar the face seemed until, with a jolt, he recognized that this was the very fellow who'd carried the effigies last night.

The reason he remembered so clearly was that the man had taken a tumble on the way back.

"Steward Liu is here!"

Someone shouted this, and immediately those who'd been arguing most fiercely on the opposite side no longer dared to act up. Shortly after, a man dressed in a silk robe, flanked by several people, walked over, and the crowd parted to make way.

With a hooked nose, thin lips, and drooping eyes, it was the very man who'd led the paper-burning last night!

So, he was the steward of Feng Mansion.

Upon arriving, Steward Liu, without a word, gestured with his hand. A robust lackey quickly stepped forward and slapped the lead man twice across the face, causing blood to spurt from his mouth and nose. These slaps were delivered with skill, stunning the man.

"I am fully aware of the situation. Sun Amao's death is due to his cheap life, unrelated to others. Take the body away and compensate his family generously," Steward Liu pronounced, his heavy eyelids lifted as he surveyed those present. His voice, neither harsh nor gentle, carried a strong deterrent, "Let this matter end here today. Anyone who dares to gossip and tarnish the Feng Family's reputation won't find me merciful."

It was clear that Steward Liu held a position of authority amongst the crowd. At his words, those who had been making a racket instantly fell silent, heads bowed, hardly daring to breathe.

Seeing the situation under control, Steward Liu turned around to face Yang Xiao and the rest, his expression devoid of any feeling, "Blessing Guests, the master is awake and has something to tell you."